


Reconnecting

by Peppermint_Miraculous (Peppermint_Shamrock)



Series: Peppermint's AU August fics [2]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU Yeah AUgust (Miraculous Ladybug), Adrinette, Future Fic, Gen, Identity Reveal, Miraculous Ladybug Next Generation, School Reunion, Single Parents, adrienette - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 05:05:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15550236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peppermint_Shamrock/pseuds/Peppermint_Miraculous
Summary: Akumas have returned to Paris, and even long powerless, Adrien is determined to protect his daughter from her grandfather. But that might prove difficult when the girl inherited more than just Adrien's looks...Written for AU August Day 3 Prompt: Single Parent





	Reconnecting

**Author's Note:**

> This is more “canon divergence” than strict “AU”, but I was inspired and it’s close enough, right? I certainly don’t think that this is possible in canon (I don’t believe that the kwamis will just leave right after Papillon is dealt with, especially not before a reveal between the two of them, and I definitely don’t think Adrien would fall out of contact with his friends), so I think it’s safe to call this an AU.
> 
> Some hints of DJWifi and past Adrien/OC, but nothing to justify tagging.

Adrien set aside his work to pick up his ringing phone.

“I’ve dropped Lydie off at your apartment,” his ex-wife said on the other end. She drew a quick breath and continued nervously, “Are you _sure_ this is okay? I know we arranged this a while ago, but that was before…”

“He hasn’t bothered me yet, so at this point, I don’t think he’s going to,” Adrien answered quietly. “Trust me, if I ever think she’s in the slightest danger, I will do everything to make sure she’s safe.”

Ever since Gabriel Agreste escaped from prison, Adrien had been constantly on edge.

Two weeks ago, his fears became reality. Akumas returned to Paris, and with Plagg being long gone from his life, Adrien could do nothing to stop it. Fortunately, a new Ladybug and Chat Noir appeared on the scene, and were doing their part in protecting the city, just as he and his Ladybug had once done. They looked so young, but then again, hadn’t he been? Guess things looked different when you were a teenager.

He wondered why Plagg hadn’t returned to him. Perhaps he wanted to spare Adrien the pain of having to fight his father again, but he needn’t’ve been concerned with that – Adrien had (after a long time, far too long) come to accept that his father was no family of his. He knew he wouldn’t hesitate to fight again to protect Paris. To protect Lydie.

And if he was being honest, he would’ve given anything for the chance to see Ladybug again. But it seemed her kwami had not returned to her either. Perhaps adults just didn’t make good superheroes.

It was no use dwelling on the past. He was no longer Chat Noir; he had to leave things in the new girl’s hands, and hope that she and the new Ladybug were up to the task.

Make no mistake, though: if Gabriel ever showed up in front of him, Adrien was _not_ reserving his punches, even powerless. And he was making damn sure that Gabriel never got _anywhere_ near Lydie.

“Everything will be fine,” Adrien said. “Go enjoy your honeymoon.”

Adrien may have rushed through things to get home quicker, but who could blame him? His daughter was everything to him, and he couldn’t wait to see her again. And because of his ex and her new husband going out of town, Adrien was looking after Lydie for a little longer than the routine custody arrangement. Of course he was excited!

He had barely closed the door of his apartment behind him when she ran up and hugged him. Laughing, Adrien picked her up – sure, at fourteen, she wasn’t small enough to justify that anymore, but he still loved to do it.

“How’s my favorite daughter?” he asked as he set her back down. She giggled and declined to point out that she was his _only_ daughter, but he could hear the unsaid statement in the roll of her eyes. “Glad to be out of school for the summer? How was the wedding?”

“The wedding was boring, but the food afterwards was good,” she said. “And I skipped most of the last couple weeks of school, but don’t tell Mom that.”

“Lydie,” Adrien said, trying to sound disapproving, but not very successfully. “Education is important, you know.”

Lydie shrugged.

“It’s not like anything gets taught in the last couple weeks anyway, and especially not when there are supervillains disrupting everything now.”

“They’ll have protocols in place by the time you start next year,” Adrien said. “It didn’t take very long the first time around.”

“Sorry,” Lydie said. “You probably don’t like being reminded of this stuff.” She drew back.

“Can’t avoid it,” Adrien said ruefully. And it wasn’t like he was trying to – in fact, he made sure to keep up with it, wary of any chance that Gabriel might be planning to retaliate against him for failing to defend him or get him out of prison, or even on the off chance that he had somehow _known_ that Adrien was Chat Noir…

But so far, it seemed he had nothing to fear. He wasn’t even on Gabriel’s radar.

_No different from when I was a kid, then._

“Don’t worry about me,” Adrien said. “I dealt with the worst of it long ago. The only thing I’m concerned with is making sure you don’t get caught up in this,” he said. He paused, and added, trying to keep the worry from his voice. “Please tell me you haven’t gotten caught up in any Akuma attacks.”

“Uh…nope. No, I haven’t. Definitely never gone near any Akumas,” Lydie said, fidgeting.

Adrien could’ve sworn his heart stopped for a moment. She was _lying_. She was so obviously lying. He knew those tells well. Lydie had been close to Akumas. How much danger had she already been in?

If Gabriel showed up in front of him, Adrien wasn’t going to keep to just punches.

Lydie must have seen the misgivings on his face, as she started waving her hands around, trying to reassure him.

“I swear! You can check all the videos and everything; I promise you won’t see me in them!”

Adrien frowned. She seemed to be telling the truth, but something didn’t add up. He _had_ seen the videos – Alya had reactivated the Ladyblog, after all, and he was still subscribed to it after all these years. She was just as enthusiastic about the superheroes as ever, and there was an odd sense of nostalgia seeing one of his old friends again, even in such a one-sided way. And it was true, he hadn’t seen his daughter in any of the videos, but…

That’s when the light caught on Lydie’s finger, and Adrien forgot how to breathe.

She was wearing a ring.

A very _familiar_ ring.

He just stared at it, knowing exactly what it meant, and at the same time, refusing to accept it. A war of emotions was crushing his chest. Relief – because at least she could _protect_ herself. Fear – because she was in even more danger. Anger – because the bastard was _targeting_ her, targeting Adrien’s _daughter_ , after the years he’d made Adrien’s life hell, he had to go after her, too. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t…she didn’t need to be dragged into this. Adrien would’ve taken it back on himself, gladly, he would’ve…he didn’t want…

He took a shuddering breath. Lydie saw him staring at the ring, and quickly pulled her arms behind her back, as if that would make him unsee it. She looked at him uncertainly. She couldn’t realize that he _knew_ , but she could tell that he’d noticed something amiss about it. He had to say something…say that he was proud of her, say that he was terrified for her, say that he had never, ever wanted her to be dragged into this fight…

But the emotional torrent froze all the words in his throat, and he blurted out the first dumb thought that could get past the blockade:

“God _damm_ it, Plagg, now I have to buy camembert!”

Lydie’s eyes went wide with shock, and she gaped at him. A small head poked out from her shoulder bag, eyes blinking blearily as he searched for the source of his name (or maybe just the word ‘camembert’). His eyes went as wide as Lydie’s as his gaze fell on Adrien. A few seconds passed in tense silence, before Plagg burst out cackling, and flew into the air.

“You’re kidding! Out of all the people in this city, I get _your_ kid?!”

“You mean you didn’t choose her on purpose?” Adrien asked, managing to raise an eyebrow at that.

“Nope! I don’t pick ‘em, and I had no idea. Doubt _she_ knew either…” he said, his last statement sounding half to himself.

Adrien was about to ask him what he meant by that – if he didn’t pick, who did? – but Lydie cut in.

“Wh…what? I thought Plagg had to stay a secret! How did you know about him?”

She looked nervous. Terrified, even – her eyes flickering between him and Plagg. He couldn’t exactly blame her; if anyone had ever figured him out, he wouldn’t have been much better. Especially in the first couple weeks of superheroing? It would’ve been incredibly nerve-wracking, to say the least. So, he took a deep breath, and found the courage to say the words that would reveal the secret he’d kept locked in his head and heart for over twenty years.

“I’d recognize that ring anywhere,” Adrien said slowly. “Because I used to wear it myself.”

“You…wore…?” She repeated slowly. “But that…that means that you… _you were the first Chat Noir?!?_ ”

“Not the first,” Plagg corrected. “There’ve been many. But he was the previous one, yes.” Adrien felt warmed by the note of pride in Plagg’s voice.

“Wow…wow. I had…no idea…” Her legs became wobbly, and she quickly stumbled over to the couch to sit down. Adrien followed, not much steadier.

“You’re the first besides Plagg to know,” he said, sitting down next to her. “I’ve…never told anyone before. Not even your mother knew. No one did.”

“I can’t believe it…the Internet theorists were right,” she said. Adrien tilted his head, confused. “People on the Internet keep pointing out how much I looked like the old Chat Noir,” she clarified. “And some people theorized that we were related. And…I guess they were right. Wow. This is…I don’t even know what to make of this, I…oh my God.” She snapped her head up to look at him, her face pale and eyes wide. “This means…that you…you had to fight your own _father_.”

“He’s no family of mine,” Adrien said firmly. She didn’t need to know how hard it had been at the time. “Nor of yours. But…I never wanted you to ever have the misfortune of meeting him. It seems that’s unavoidable now. I…I’m proud of you, Lydie. I’m glad you have the chance to be a hero…but I never wanted you to be brought into this mess. I…I’m afraid. He’s _after_ you, and I know what kind of a man he is. I’m scared for you, I’m scared he’ll hurt you, and I know at least you can defend yourself, but I know…I know what it’s like. Everyone thinks superheroes are invincible…but we’re not.”

Lydie hugged him tightly, and he returned the hug, wrapping his arms around her. Plagg watched them in silence.

“I won’t let him get me,” she promised. “I won’t let him hurt you again.”

Nothing more was said for a few minutes, as they just held each other. Plagg settled on the back of the couch, continuing to watch them.

“Will you tell me what it was like for you?” Lydie asked. “To be a hero, I mean?”

“Of course,” he said. He had so many stories, that he’d never been able to share before. He would be glad to finally tell them.

“Before that,” Plagg said, finally interrupting. “We need to address a problem.”

Adrien looked up at Plagg. Ah…yeah, he wasn’t exactly _supposed_ to know a superhero’s identity; it was a safety risk. He wondered what precautions Plagg had in mind – there wasn’t any way he could forget, after all.

However, that didn’t seem to be what Plagg was concerned with at the moment.

“There’s no cheese in this place!” Plagg said, disapproval dripping from every word.

“I told you,” Lydie said, rolling her eyes. “My dad doesn’t ever have cheese in the house.”

Plagg fixed Adrien with a scandalized look.

“What kind of proper Frenchman doesn’t keep cheese in the house?”

Adrien shifted, and looked away.

“I never get cheese,” he said softly. “Because it always reminded me of you.”

“…You’re still so sappy,” Plagg muttered after a long pause, in a tone clearly indicating to Adrien that he was touched and didn’t want to admit it. “Well, you’d better start getting cheese now.”

“I will,” Adrien promised.

“To the cheese store!” Lydie said, jumping off the couch. Adrien got up too, fetching his keys, and Plagg returned to Lydie’s bag after expressing his whole-hearted approval of the plan.

It wasn’t a long walk to the store, but conversation was minimal. After all, they could hardly talk about superhero stuff out in public, and what else could you talk about after a revelation like that? At least once they got to the store, they could discuss what kinds and how much cheese to buy. Adrien ended up buying probably a lot more than he really should’ve, but could he be blamed for wanting to spoil an old friend he hadn’t seen for twenty years? What was a little overspending in the face of that?

Plagg was certainly happy with the quantity of cheese, diving right in after they returned to the apartment. Lydie immediately pounced on him with questions.

“What was it like?”

“Amazing,” Adrien answered honestly. “Becoming Chat Noir was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Before that…I wasn’t even allowed to leave the house. Without Plagg…who knows if I ever would’ve gotten the chance. And I got to meet Ladybug. Ladybug…she was just…she was something else. She was so strong, and clever, and…and everything! When you saw her, you just felt inspired, you couldn’t help but be in awe of her. She was my best friend, and the most amazing person I’ve ever met, and I wish…I wish I could see her again.”

“You sound like you’re in love with her,” Lydie said.

“Oh, don’t even get him started,” Plagg cut in. “He was the _worst_ , I tell you. Horribly lovesick; he’d see an actual insect ladybug and get all mushy.”

“Whatever, Plagg,” Adrien said fondly, not able to dispute it. “Yeah. I loved her then, and if I ever see her again…I’m sure I’d fall just as hard.”

“What happened to her?” Lydie asked.

“Same thing that happened to me, I guess,” Adrien said, shrugging. “Our duty was done, and the kwamis left. We never even got the chance to say a proper goodbye to each other. If you take one piece of advice from me,” his voice turned very serious. “Set something up with your partner so you can find each other again after everything is over. I know you have to keep your identities secret as long as the city is under threat, but one of my greatest regrets is never being able to see Ladybug again. A meeting place, a sealed letter, burner phones…anything. Even if you’re only friends…just trust me on this.”

“I’ll talk to him about it,” Lydie said, nodding.

Adrien spent the rest of the evening telling happier stories, stories of their victories, of the moments hanging out with Ladybug on the rooftops or running around the city.

“One of my friends was a huge fan of us, ran a blog and everything. She actually started it back up again recently, I’ll show you,” he said, and pulled up the Ladyblog on his phone.

“I don’t think I’ve seen that site,” Lydie said. “But…oh! I’ve seen that woman, she got waaay too close to some of the Akumas.”

“Yeah, that sounds like Alya,” Adrien said, chuckling. “She always was a brave one. I remember her even trying to interview a supervillain that was holding her hostage, once. She was really into superheroes and such…in fact, she’s arranged a class reunion to…well, celebrate doesn’t sound like the right word, but pretty much celebrate the return of superheroes to Paris.”

“Oooh, can we go?” Lydie asked enthusiastically.

“I don’t know,” Adrien said, rubbing his neck. “I…really haven’t been in contact with any of them for a long time.”

“Please?” she asked. “I’d love to meet your old friends!”

“You’ve already met Plagg,” Adrien pointed out. She kept her eyes wide and pleading. “I’ll think about it,” he conceded.

“Yes!”

“But I think it’s time to head to bed,” he said. Lydie pouted, but he reminded her that it wasn’t any fun to fight Akumas when you were exhausted. Adrien, too, retired to his room, but didn’t go to sleep. Instead, he went to his computer, and pulled up the email invitation to the reunion, and gazed at the screen wistfully. What a day this had been.

“You should go.”

Adrien jumped and whirled around to face Plagg.

“Don’t give me that look,” Plagg said, flying up to Adrien’s face. “Look…I missed you too,” he admitted. “If it had been my choice, I never would’ve left, especially not then, when you’d already lost so much. But I never thought you would’ve lost your other friends, too.”

“I didn’t…lose them,” Adrien said reluctantly. “I just…pulled away. After everything, I just withdrew. At the time, I thought it would make things easier. I realized later what a mistake that was, but by that time…it was too late to try to reconnect. I’m sure it’s much too late now.”

“I know how much those people meant to you, Adrien. You say you realized what a mistake it was to pull away, but you’re still making it.”

“I’m not lonely. I have Lydie.”

“Only some of the time, as evidenced by the fact that I didn’t know she was _your_ kid for _two weeks_.”

He didn’t have an answer for that.

“Go see your friends, Adrien. It can’t hurt.”

.

.

.

Adrien did not share in Lydie’s excitement. She was under the impression that a school reunion would be, quote “much more fun than a wedding”. Adrien was fairly well convinced it would be an awkward exchange of pleasantries with people who didn’t really know how to react to him anymore. He certainly didn’t know what to expect – would people avoid him? Welcome him? Ignore him? Even recognize him? He had no idea.

But he’d promised Plagg and Lydie that they would go, so here he was, and he didn’t expect Lydie to let him get away with hiding off in a corner somewhere. And there were a lot more people here than he anticipated. Clearly it wasn’t just his class that was invited, but all the classes of their grade. He didn’t recognize most of the attendees.

But there was one person who he most certainly recognized. With Lydie in tow, Adrien made his way over to the DJ booth, and fidgeted as he waited by the side to catch his attention. When he finally looked up, Adrien gave a small, feeble wave.

“Hey,” Adrien said, nervously.

Nino stared for only a second before tackling him in a hug.

“Adrien! Dude, it has been _forever_ ,” he said, but looking at him warmly like it had been just yesterday.

“Y…yeah,” Adrien said, his fears easing slightly at Nino’s enthusiastic greeting. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“I can’t believe you made it; man, Alya and Marinette are gonna be thrilled! They organized this whole thing, you know.”

“Yeah…well, my daughter really wanted to come, so…here I am?” Adrien offered, rubbing his neck as Nino released him. “Oh, uh…this is my daughter, Lydie. Lydie, this is my best friend from middle school, Nino.”

Lydie waved.

“Man, I didn’t even know you were married,” Nino said.

“Haven’t been for a few years now,” Adrien said.

“Yeah,” Lydie said. “Mom’s remarried by now and he hasn’t even so much as dated anyone. It’s a chore just getting him to leave the house.” Nino laughed.

“Oh, I like her. She looks just like you, but she’s got sass.”

“I can have sass if I want,” Adrien argued. Nino just looked amused, and began scanning the crowd.

“Hey Alya!” he began yelling and trying to flag her down. As she approached, he added, “Look who showed up!”

She stopped just short of them and looked Adrien over.

“Damn,” Alya said. “Now there’s a face I haven’t seen in a _long_ time. Adrien, good to see you!”

“Good to see you, too,” Adrien said. “Lydie, this is Alya, the one who runs the Ladyblog. Alya, this is my daughter, Lydie.”

“Ooh, are you a fan of the Ladyblog?” Alya asked Lydie, eagerly. “I was so excited to start that up again, it was my _original_ passion project! I was so excited to see the return of Ladybug and Chat Noir, even if they’re different from before – and clearly that means that the first Ladybug wasn’t really thousands of years old, and…”

“Uh, yeah…I mean, you do good work, your website is really thorough,” Lydie said, a little taken aback. Adrien hid a smile; Alya tended to have that effect when she got going on something like that. “But I’m not all that…excited about the situation, considering the…blood ties.”

Alya’s face fell, and she gave Adrien an apologetic look.

“Ah…yeah, I guess it hits you guys worse, doesn’t it…”

“It’s fine,” Adrien said. “I’m used to people talking about it, it _is_ current events, after all. I’ve come to terms with what kind of a person he is, and I disowned him long ago.”

Nino gave an enthusiastic noise of approval. Alya gave him a look.

“What? I never liked Adrien’s old man. Even before we knew he was a supervillain. What kind of guy doesn’t let his kid have a birthday party? Anyway…I was wanting to introduce these two to Lucien, have you seen him around anywhere?”

“He’s helping Marinette transport the cake, they should be here soon,” Alya answered. At Adrien’s questioning look, she said. “Lucien’s our son, he’s about Lydie’s age. Marinette’s basically his unofficial aunt; he loves helping her out.”

“Oh good,” Lydie said. “Someone my age will be here, that automatically makes this ten times better than the wedding.”

“I hope you didn’t complain about it this much in front of your mom,” Adrien said.

“Of course I didn’t, that’s why I’m complaining now.”

Adrien filled Alya and Nino in, and the three of them (along with Lydie) began chatting and catching up with each other. No one else paid them much attention. Eventually, Marinette and Lucien showed up, depositing the cake in the back with the other refreshments. Alya waved them over.

“Marinette, here’s your proof that all your hard work for this event paid off,” Alya greeted, and gestured towards Adrien. “Look at who showed up!”

“Adrien! I didn’t know you were coming!” Marinette said, practically tripping over herself in her rush to greet him. “How are you?”

“It was…kind of a last-minute decision,” he said. “And I’m as well as I can be, everything considered.”

Marinette gave him a sympathetic look.

“Lucien, this is Adrien, an old friend of ours from middle school,” Alya said. “Adrien, Lucien.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lucien said.

“And you as well,” Adrien answered, and stepped aside to let Lydie come to the front. “This is my daughter, Lydie. I guess you two are the same age?”

The two children greeted each other. Adrien noticed that Marinette was staring at Lydie.

“I didn’t know that she was your daughter,” Marinette said softly. “I mean! I didn’t know that you had a daughter.”

Adrien, remembering quite well that Marinette had a tendency to mix up words, didn’t think anything of her strange first statement.

“Yeah, I kind of…fell out of contact with everyone, huh?”

“Well, we’re not letting you get away this time!” Alya said. “You two, you’d better become friends quick, that way we have an excuse to make Adrien keep visiting us.”

The kids laughed.

“Count me in,” Lydie said. “I’m all for making him visit you. Or anyone, really.” She then looked at Marinette, and frowned slightly. “I feel like I’ve seen you before somewhere…”

“Oh! Um…well, I like to wander the city sometimes, you know, for inspiration?” Marinette said, wringing her hands. “Or maybe you’ve come to my shop once? I run a specialty store, you know, I make all the clothes and stuff myself.”

“That’s really cool, Marinette,” Adrien said, smiling. “That’s just the sort of thing I would’ve expected you to end up doing! You’re really talented, so I’m sure your store is awesome!”

“Thanks,” Marinette said, ducking her head. “You…you’re welcome to stop by anytime. Friends get discounts.”

Adrien’s heart swelled. Marinette still considered him a friend! With Nino, Alya, and Marinette, it was as though nothing had ever changed, despite the years apart. He had had nothing to fear. He could’ve reached back out at any time and they would’ve happily accepted him back. He could not even feel sad for the lost time, he was too caught up in the happiness and relief that knowledge brought now.

His good mood was threatened when others, people he didn’t recognize, started to recognize _him_ …and unlike his friends, they weren’t very happy to see him there. One such person came up and started making the usual accusations – that he was in league with his father, a danger to society, etc., etc. Adrien tried very hard never to respond to those sorts of things; it only made them angrier.

Lydie, however, had never learned such a thing.

“Don’t talk about my dad like that! He has nothing to do with it, he never has!”

“Not cool,” Lucien agreed. “This is a party, we’re supposed to be having fun, so stop causing trouble.”

The man rounded on the kids, especially Lydie, insulting her and calling her the spawn of the devil. Adrien very, very nearly broke his rule of never responding. Insult him all they liked, but Lydie was off limits. Marinette, however, beat him to it. Gently taking Lydie by the shoulder, she pulled her to the side.

“Let an expert handle this,” Marinette said with a wink. She turned to the troublesome guest, and said calmly, “If you have any evidence that anyone here has anything to do with the current threat to Paris, I highly suggest you take it to the police. I doubt, however, that you do, considering that the police certainly investigated Adrien heavily after Papillon’s initial arrest, and no doubt upon his escape from prison, and upon the Akumas returning to Paris. Either way, you’re making a complete and utter fool of yourself, as well as harassing children, and just generally offering nothing of value to the situation. Kindly remove yourself or I will remove you. Anyone else that has a problem with Adrien being here can kindly get out, too.”

The guest did not react well to that, and, after several insults directed towards Marinette, moved to charge at Adrien. Marinette swiftly caught the man by the arm and smoothly pinned him to the floor, not releasing him until security arrived to remove him.

The room had gone quiet, Nino having turned off the music to call security, and everyone gathering to watch the spectacle. Lydie was staring at Marinette in awe. Already, Adrien could see it – she was going to want to take martial arts lessons now, and mentally he started going through how he could work something out with Lydie’s mother to arrange that for the summer.

However, what Lydie said next caught him completely by surprise.

“Are you single? My dad needs a girlfriend.”

The room exploded with laughter. Alya practically doubled over, and Nino wasn’t much better off. Adrien was completely nonplussed, and Marinette looked equally caught off guard.

“Ly…Lydie! You can’t just ask people to be my girlfriend on my behalf,” he said, embarrassed.

“You know…” Marinette said slowly. “When I was your age, I would’ve totally taken you up on that. I used to have the biggest crush on your dad in middle school. Embarrassingly big. I couldn’t even talk properly around him at first.”

“You what?” Adrien asked, surprised. “A crush? On me?” The room exploded in laughter again, and this time, Alya slid to the floor, wheezing.

“Dude,” Nino said between gasps of breath. “Literally _everyone_ knew that. It was really, really obvious.”

“I didn’t,” Adrien said, which was followed with more laughs, though not quite as strong.

Slowly, the party resumed, everyone breaking off into their own groups again.

“But really, that was amazing!” Lydie said. “How you stood up to that guy for dad! He wasn’t listening at all, and you just _wham!_ slammed him right to the ground. That was just so cool!”

“I can sign you up for martial arts lessons, if you want,” Adrien said, still embarrassed from the discussion.

“I don’t want martial arts lessons, I want you to date her.”

“That’s not the way this works,” Adrien said, burying his face in his hands.

“I second the ‘you should date Marinette’,” Alya said. “I’m seriously reliving my middle school days right now…chasing after superheroes again, trying to set Marinette up with Adrien again…but now I’ve got a new accomplice.” She grinned at Lydie, and offered a high five, which Lydie gladly took.

“Alyaaaa,” Marinette groaned. “Do not. Do not team up with a child to interfere with my love life.”

“What love life?” Alya scoffed. “You haven’t been with anyone for the past…” she started counting on her fingers. “…year and a half. And I’m not sure I can even _count_ your last couple of ‘relationships’…”

“So you _are_ single!” Lydie said triumphantly.

This was going to be a long, awkward party, after all.

But he had his old friends back, and that made it all worth it. Adrien was going to remember to thank Plagg later.

.

.

.

“Come on, you can’t tell me you don’t feel those old feelings stirring up,” Alya teased Marinette quietly.

“The years have been good to him,” Marinette conceded. “But we’re not doing this again, Alya.”

“Why not? He’s long since divorced, he’s very available. His kid already likes you and has given you her approval. I say, go for it! Live your dreams, Marinette. I know you’re practically part of my family…but I know you’ve always wanted your own, too.”

“I’m happy with how things are. And Adrien has only _just_ come back into our lives…I don’t want to mess that up.”

Though Alya could never know, she’d already messed up his life enough, hadn’t she? Not just once, by exposing Papillon, but twice…

Marinette looked over towards Lydie. She hadn’t known, when she’d seen the girl standing up to injustice. If she had…would she have chosen someone else? Though Lydie had likely never met her grandfather, Marinette’s heart ached for the position she’d put the girl into.

But, as she watched Lydie and Lucien talk and laugh together, she couldn’t help but believe she’d made the right choice in the end.

They were going to be a great team.


End file.
